Higher education and research, Raphaël Glucksmann
Research, share of GDP: PS programme: R&D at 3% of GDP in 2030, of which at least 1% public research
Direction of change: increase, compared with current law.
The lever. Targeted research and development spending, public and private, as a percentage of gross domestic product. Direction rule: ↑ greater research effort.
« En France, porter l’investissement en R&D à hauteur de 3 % du PIB d’ici 2030 dont au moins 1 % pour la recherche publique. »1Translation by the editorsIn France, bring R&D investment to 3% of GDP by 2030, of which at least 1% for public research.
Parti socialiste, « Le Projet socialiste », chapitre « Vivre libres » (adopté par les militants le 25 juin 2026), 25 June 2026. Position taken from a document of the candidate’s party or movement, not from a presidential programme.
No programme released. Positions taken from public statements, words of associates or documents of the candidate’s party, each dated and sourced; last recorded on 21 October 2026.
Encoding
| Parameter | Current law | Proposed | Effective date or horizon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additional public research spending | 0 point of GDP | 0.26 point of GDP (assumption by the editors, see the costing) | full year 2032, €bn/year |
Costing
Announced by the candidate
not announced
The cited source does not cost this measure.
Published costings
none
No external costing of this position recorded to date.
Our calculation
−€9.1bn
per year for the public accounts, new spending, range −€9.6bn to −€7.3bn. Proposed by their party or associates, not taken up by the candidate personally: costed and shown, never added. It enters the totals on the day the candidate takes it up.
The calculation
- Additional public research spending: (0.26 − 0) ÷ 0.1 = 2.6 times “+0.1 point of GDP of public research spending in 2032”, each a cost of €3.5bn (2.8 to 3.7).
Assumption by the editors. Partial costing. Measure of the candidate's associates: the only source is the Projet socialiste, a Parti socialiste text adopted by its members on 25 June 2026, before the candidate was designated; no statement by the candidate takes it up (check of 18 October 2026). Costed, shown separately, never added. Public share stated by the text (« au moins 1 % pour la recherche publique » [“at least 1% for public research”], against 0.74% of GDP in 2023): +0.26 point of GDP in 2032, costed at the floor (partial costing). The business share is not public spending.
Coefficient calculated by the editors from SIES, notes sur la DIRD 2023 (Flash juillet 2025, NI novembre 2025): the position is marked as an assumption by the editors.
Current law, sources and limits of the cost schedule
Current law. The target has been 3% of GDP since 2000. In 2023, gross domestic expenditure on R&D stands at 2.18% of GDP: 1.44% for businesses, 0.74% for government, the lowest level since 1980 (SIES). The research programming act 2021-2030 applies.
Horizon. full year 2032, €bn/year
Limits. 2023 GDP derived: 61.5 / 0.0218 ≈ €2,820bn, hence 0.1 point ≈ €2.8bn (low value). Nominal GDP in 2032 is projected at €3,500bn-€3,700bn (assumption of about 3% nominal growth per year, not sourced), hence €3.5bn to €3.7bn. If a candidate's objective concerns total GERD (DIRD, 3%), only the State-financed share counts (budget appropriations or research tax credit): the public share is separated from the share expected from businesses. Rule on public bases (18 October 2026), the same for all candidates: a target of 3% of GDP that does not state its public share is read according to the Barcelona objective (European Council, March 2002), under which « les deux tiers de ce nouvel investissement » [“two thirds of this new investment”] come from the private sector: one third of the increase, from 2.18% to 3% of GDP, is public, i.e. (3 − 2.18) / 3 ≈ +0.27 point of public research spending (similar reading: 1% public out of 3%, i.e. +0.26 point). When the text gives its public share, that is what counts. The research tax credit, public funding of business research, is not counted here: it falls under tax expenditures.
- SIES, notes sur la DIRD 2023 (Flash juillet 2025, NI novembre 2025), 2025-11: « la DIRD est de 61,5 milliards d'euros ... L'effort de recherche ... est de 2,18 % en 2023 ; L'effort de recherche des administrations s'élève à 0,74 % du PIB en 2023, à son plus bas niveau depuis 1980 »
- Sénat, avis PLF 2026 Recherche et enseignement supérieur, 2025-11: « depuis plus de quinze ans, l'investissement dans la recherche stagne à 2,2 % du produit intérieur brut (PIB), alors que, dès 2000, la cible était de 3 % du PIB »
- Conseil européen de Barcelone, 15 et 16 mars 2002, conclusions de la présidence (SN 100/1/02 REV 1), point 47, 2002-03-16: « agrees that overall spending on R&D and innovation in the Union should be increased with the aim of approaching 3% of GDP by 2010. Two-thirds of this new investment should come from the private sector »
How to read these amounts. These are static costs and revenues, with no feedback effect, over a full year: nothing on growth, employment or the revenue that economic activity would gain or lose. A higher net cost does not on its own make a worse policy, nor net savings a better one: each programme rests on an economic model (demand-led stimulus, lower compulsory levies, consolidation of the public accounts…) that the cost schedule does not settle. GDP itself measures a volume of activity, not well-being or the usefulness of what is produced. Economic models and feedback effects.
- Parti socialiste, « Le Projet socialiste », chapitre « Vivre libres » (adopté par les militants le 25 juin 2026), 25 June 2026. Position taken from a document of the candidate’s party or movement, not from a presidential programme. Read the source (Parti socialiste, « Le Projet socialiste », chapitre « Vivre libres » (adopté par les militants le 25 juin 2026)).
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